Beijing No. 4 Middle School Fangshan Campus
Project
Beijing No. 4 Middle School Fangshan Campus
Beijing No. 4 Middle School Fangshan Campus
Beijing / China, 2014
Description
Design Concept
If there is one thing that we have to put above all other issues for the 21st century, that is probably the vulnerability of nature. Ancient Chinese philosophy had always centered on the harmony between people and nature. In the decades to come, and amidst all the looming environmental crisis, it is urgent to bring the ancient philosophy back to the core of our education, and put it in the context of new challenges ahead. With this in mind, OPEN has designed a new kind of school system that provides a balanced and joyful learning environment integrated with farms and gardens.
Conventional teaching spaces like classrooms and laboratories are organized within a tree-like structure which provides eco-friendly and efficiently connected spaces. Advantage of passive solar and natural ventilation/lighting is maximized with this semi-organic shaped infrastructure. While the "new" teaching spaces - more creative and larger social spaces are integrated within the park on the ground. Their architecture gives the form to the organic park and garden spaces, while connecting with the conventional teaching spaces above.
These two types of teaching landscape, the conventional and the new, the orthodox and the free spirited, the curriculum and the extra curriculum, the collective and the individual, the necessary and the optional, are juxtaposed and balanced with each other. While the students are cultivated to respect, to balance and to protect the nature, they also learn to balance between these two types of teaching and learning, and ultimately be able to freely navigate and integrate all these contradictions, and better prepare themselves for the future.
Different types of public spaces are the key to re-establish important social relationships that are often lacking in adolescents growing up in the internet age, be it among the students, or between students and teachers. In the new school, classrooms are extended to the exterior, the gardens, while the playground is brought into the interior and climate proof spaces. Together with a dominant circulation and social spine, pockets of public spaces formed by sprouts like cantilevers off the building volume help to create a web of social spaces. These are the places for people to meet and interact casually. They function like organic fluid holding together the various types of spaces of learning.
It is our hope that the physical environment of the new school will inspire and foster healthier environment of learning and to better prepare our kids for the future challenges.
Client
Vanke + Cofco
Program
36-class Junior and Senior high school, classrooms, auditorium, gym, dining hall, dormitory and sport facilities
Project Team
Competition Phase:
Li Hu
Huang Wenjing
Zhou Tingting
Yu Qingbo
Felipe Escudero
Julia Mok
Lu Chen
Cheng Yanwei
Fan Jie
Scott Craven
Chris Gerdes
Beatrice Lau
Project Phase:
Li Hu
Huang Wenjing
Daijiro Nakayama
Ye Qing
Zhou Tingting
Thomas Batzenschlager
Jotte Seghers
Wang Yifan
Li Qiang
Ge Ruishi
Xue Wencan
Brendan Whitsitt
Ami Kito
Tao Wei
Simina Cuc
Zhao Yao
Chen Xiaoting
Local Design Institute
Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
Sustainaiblity Consultant
Tsinghua Building Energy Research Center
Building Area
51,000 m²
Land Area
45,332 m²
Design Concept
If there is one thing that we have to put above all other issues for the 21st century, that is probably the vulnerability of nature. Ancient Chinese philosophy had always centered on the harmony between people and nature. In the decades to come, and amidst all the looming environmental crisis, it is urgent to bring the ancient philosophy back to the core of our education, and put it in the context of new challenges ahead. With this in mind, OPEN has designed a new kind of school system that provides a balanced and joyful learning environment integrated with farms and gardens.
Conventional teaching spaces like classrooms and laboratories are organized within a tree-like structure which provides eco-friendly and efficiently connected spaces. Advantage of passive solar and natural ventilation/lighting is maximized with this semi-organic shaped infrastructure. While the "new" teaching spaces - more creative and larger social spaces are integrated within the park on the ground. Their architecture gives the form to the organic park and garden spaces, while connecting with the conventional teaching spaces above.
These two types of teaching landscape, the conventional and the new, the orthodox and the free spirited, the curriculum and the extra curriculum, the collective and the individual, the necessary and the optional, are juxtaposed and balanced with each other. While the students are cultivated to respect, to balance and to protect the nature, they also learn to balance between these two types of teaching and learning, and ultimately be able to freely navigate and integrate all these contradictions, and better prepare themselves for the future.
Different types of public spaces are the key to re-establish important social relationships that are often lacking in adolescents growing up in the internet age, be it among the students, or between students and teachers. In the new school, classrooms are extended to the exterior, the gardens, while the playground is brought into the interior and climate proof spaces. Together with a dominant circulation and social spine, pockets of public spaces formed by sprouts like cantilevers off the building volume help to create a web of social spaces. These are the places for people to meet and interact casually. They function like organic fluid holding together the various types of spaces of learning.
It is our hope that the physical environment of the new school will inspire and foster healthier environment of learning and to better prepare our kids for the future challenges.
Client
Vanke + Cofco
Program
36-class Junior and Senior high school, classrooms, auditorium, gym, dining hall, dormitory and sport facilities
Project Team
Competition Phase:
Li Hu
Huang Wenjing
Zhou Tingting
Yu Qingbo
Felipe Escudero
Julia Mok
Lu Chen
Cheng Yanwei
Fan Jie
Scott Craven
Chris Gerdes
Beatrice Lau
Project Phase:
Li Hu
Huang Wenjing
Daijiro Nakayama
Ye Qing
Zhou Tingting
Thomas Batzenschlager
Jotte Seghers
Wang Yifan
Li Qiang
Ge Ruishi
Xue Wencan
Brendan Whitsitt
Ami Kito
Tao Wei
Simina Cuc
Zhao Yao
Chen Xiaoting
Local Design Institute
Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
Sustainaiblity Consultant
Tsinghua Building Energy Research Center
Building Area
51,000 m²
Land Area
45,332 m²
